MacArthur High School and Irving TX police: Apologize to Ahmed Mohamed for criminalizing science.

*UPDATE: Police in Irving, Texas, announced that no charges will be filed against Ahmed, but MacArthur High School has yet to issue an apology*

Ahmed Mohamed is a 14 year old boy in Irving, Texas, and like many bright teenagers who have dreams of working in engineering and technology, he makes his own radios and even repairs his own go-kart. On Monday, September 14, Ahmed hoped to impress his teachers when he brought a homemade clock to MacArthur High School. Instead of praise, the school administration claimed it looked like a bomb, and they had the 9th grader arrested and taken away in handcuffs. Please join me in asking MacArthur High School and Irving police to apologize to Ahmed Mohamed, drop any charges against him, and throw out his suspension.

Ahmed worked on the robotics team in his middle school, and brought his creation to school to show his teachers at his new high school. Apparently, one teacher thought it looked like a bomb, and called the administration. Later in the day he was taken out of class, detained by police, and marched out of the school in handcuffs. Ahmed repeatedly told police it was just a clock, and police acknowledge this, but they still detained him claiming it was a "hoax bomb."

In schools all across the country teens like Ahmed are active in robotics and electronics clubs where students make devices that could be accused of "looking like a bomb." We need to support our future scientists and engineers, not scare them away from inventions.

We are asking the school principal, district, and the police department to offer a formal apology to Ahmed and his family. Sign my petition to #StandWithAhmed.